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ZSpectre t1_is7m1zd wrote

Reply to comment by Anthrogal11 in SARS-CoV2 enters the brain through the olfactory nerve in rhesus monkeys, causing neuroinflammation. The virus spread further into the brain in aging animals. by andyhfell

Ooh, I actually really like this question. I'm no expert in immunology, but I'd suspect that because a lot of the immune system cells are involved with allergies (to our detriment), it's making me wonder here if all of those different white blood cells, complement systems, and antibodies that may or may not be involved with allergic rhinitis may somehow provide enhanced immunity(?). My educated guess is that the innate immune system may likely be involved, but I can't remember how that's affected by something like allergic rhinitis. Looking forward to someone passing by to either confirm, clarify, or refute this :)

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MoreTrueStories t1_is85li9 wrote

Allergies are one of the leading causes of sinus infections (which are typically caused by viruses). That suggests that inflammation will not impede, but rather precipitate the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2.

Following infection, a systemic immune response is mounted, characterized by increased serum concentrations of chemokines and pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and the appearance of activated monocytes, followed by SARS-CoV-2-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM), IgA, and IgG antibodies and interferon-γ-producing T cells. This concerted action of the immune system controls the replication of SARS-CoV-2.

With that said, the question is whether or not the preexisting inflammation would also result in the immune system detecting the virus earlier than it would in subjects without active allergies. It does seem likely that patients with already elevated levels of immunoglobulin would help detect the virus sooner and would likely result in better outcomes (i.e. no PACs 'long covid).

/u/Anthrogal11 my hypothesis is that you would have a higher rate of infection but also be more likely to present as asymptomatic. Something that may confound the above is if your allergies are so bad that they significantly restrict airflow through your sinuses.

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ZSpectre t1_isauhp8 wrote

Thanks a ton for the reply. If I'm getting what you're saying correctly (and this may be a fun review of immunology for me since I was no big fan of the subject back in the day), I'm first thinking of an analogy comparing the difference between a walled fortress with a few soldiers versus one that would only have a small fence but a ton more soldiers, weapons, and tracking devices. For those passing by, the walled fortress would be like the blood vessel's "normal state" while the latter would be the "inflamed" state seen both in allergies and active infection.

While someone with allergies would have the latter state much more often with the weakened barrier (inflammation causes more porous blood vessels likely to function as a means to let more white blood vessels come in), I'm first guessing that this would be the main reason why it would precipitate the infectivity of viruses that happen to come by (as said in your first point).

In other words, all viruses that get into the upper nose may have an easier time getting through the small fence. And while the ones that cause allergic rhinitis may have an easier time evading the soldier's detection systems (perhaps more nimble / more stealthy), the question all 3 of us are talking about is whether or not SARS-CoV-2 may have a more difficult time avoiding getting tagged by the soldier's detection systems despite more easily getting in. (compared to a normal person who starts out with the walled fortress, maybe the virus may have a tougher time coming in, but if they ever do, the soldiers would have to go through "normal protocol" of calling for back up, weapons, and tagging systems, which all could take up extra time)

And to translate your hypothesis, perhaps much more SARS-CoV-2 viruses get in with a weak fence, but they likely won't do much after that since perhaps getting tagged more easily would make the rest the soldiers in the other fortresses much more aware of their presence (even if they get to other parts of the body, they have a shining beacon on them). The confounder is how allergies may just so happen to supplement the weak fenced compound with a big wall of slime.

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Anthrogal11 t1_is7myux wrote

Thanks! I’m super curious both as an academic and because I have pretty awful allergic rhinitis all year (I know, the jokes write themselves). I’m triple vaxxed but I had just graduated at beginning of pandemic and worked in a service capacity throughout. My son got it and we live in close quarters. There was no isolation. I’ve managed to not catch it (so far). I’m so curious if the curse of severe allergies has potentially provided a benefit in terms of avoiding Covid. Thanks for your response and insights!

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sgnirtStrings t1_is85na2 wrote

I'm 4x original vax and 1 new bivalent vax. Never gotten it before. Also a sufferer of severe allergies and allergic rhinitis for >10 years. That's my random data point.

Random aside: I've been doing allergy shot immunotherapy for ~4 months and holy hell it works. My shallow research into a couple papers reveal a theory of how it might work: I'm simply exhausting the differentiated immune cells that I have for each specific allergen. And then after a certain length of time being consistently exposed, the cells start going "whoops I guess I give up, time to die". And that's possibly why allergic immunotherapy can cure people's allergies.

Just mentioning that because I wish someone told me about the treatment 10 years ago! Used to take 1-2 antihistamines a day. Now I take none. (And I'm talking allergies to 40+ different pollens in the area).

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Anthrogal11 t1_is9si16 wrote

Thanks! I have talked to my allergist about this because I’m on prescription antihistamines twice a day. I’ll talk to them further. I appreciate your insights!

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